How many playoff spots in nhl

With the league officially playing a shortened game schedule with temporarily realigned divisions for this season, the playoff format is also getting a one-year overhaul. There are no wild card teams. The first two rounds will be played within the division in a 1 vs.

You might recall this format from the old Patrick, Norris, Smythe, and Adams division days. Well, for this year. It is back. The four teams that advance to the Stanley Cup Semifinals will then be re-seeded based on their regular season point totals, and then placed into a new 1 vs. That means the traditional Eastern Conference champion vs. Western Conference champion format is out the window for this year, and all sorts of new options are suddenly on the table.

Toronto vs. The top three teams in each division will make up the first 12 teams in the playoffs. The remaining four spots will be filled by the next two highest-placed finishers in each conference, based on regular-season record and regardless of division. It is possible for one division in each conference to send five teams to the postseason while the other sends just three.

In the First Round, the division winner with the best record in each conference will be matched against the wild card with the lesser record; the wild card with the better record will play the other division winner.

The teams finishing second and third in each division will meet in the First Round within the bracket headed by their respective division winner. First-round winners within each bracket play one another in the Second Round to determine the four participants in the Conference Finals. Louis Blues , Montreal Canadiens. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.

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Nuggets on Friday.